COMPLIANCE

Immediately after the global financial crisis in 2008, government attitude toward financial markets, and the way in which they were being managed changed dramatically. As a result, new laws were put in place to prevent a repeat of the crisis.

In the USA, the most significant of these laws was the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (‘‘Dodd-Frank Act’’ or ‘‘DFA’’).

INCREASED REGULATIONThe Dodd-Frank Act required swap dealers and major swap participants to record pre-execution trade information including, at a minimum, records of all oral and written communications provided or received concerning quotes, solicitations, bids, offers, instructions, trading, and prices, that lead to the execution of a swap—whether communicated by telephone, voicemail, facsimile, instant messaging, chat rooms, electronic mail, mobile device, or other digital or electronic media.

To further comply with the Dodd-Frank Act, recordings must be securely archived and easily retrievable as required.